Selective location-based identity communication

ABSTRACT

Systems, devices, media, and methods are presented for selective location-based identity communication. The systems and methods identify a current location of a mobile computing device and detect a selection of a user interface element associated with the current location. The systems and methods cause presentation of a set of display elements corresponding to the current location and detect selection of a display element of the set of display elements. The systems and methods modify a display characteristic for the current location of the mobile computing device within a set of mobile computing devices based on the selection of the display element.

PRIORITY

The present application is a continuation of and claims priority benefitof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/859,101, filed Dec. 29, 2017,which claims priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 62/491,115 filed on Apr. 27, 2017, and U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/554,937 filed Sep. 6, 2017, which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to selectivecommunication of a location-based identification. More particularly, butnot by way of limitation, the present disclosure addresses systems andmethods for determining a location of a mobile computing device andselectively presenting location information of the mobile computingdevice at other mobile computing devices.

BACKGROUND

Social media applications implement computer-mediated technologiesallowing for the creating and sharing of content that communicatesinformation, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression via virtualcommunities and networks. Social media platforms use web-basedtechnologies, desktop computers, and mobile technologies (e.g.,smartphones and tablet computers) to create highly interactive platformsthrough which individuals, communities, and organizations can share,co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content or pre-madecontent posted online.

Mobile electronic devices on which end-user social media applicationscan be executed typically provide geolocation services that determinethe geographic location of the mobile electronic device, by extensionindicating the geographic location of the associated user. Social mediacontent posted by users is often geo-tagged based on the geolocation ofa mobile electronic device (such as a mobile phone) by use of which thesocial media content is captured and/or posted to the social mediaplatform. In other embodiments, social media content may explicitly begeo-tagged by a user using a computer device that does not haveactivated geolocation services and/or that is not a mobile device (suchas a desktop PC).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various ones of the appended drawings merely illustrate exampleembodiments of the present disclosure and should not be considered aslimiting its scope.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a network system, according tosome example embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a location locking system, according tosome example embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method for selectivelyblocking location identification of a mobile computing device, accordingto some example embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a user interface diagram depicting graphical user interfaceelements for selectively blocking location information, according tosome example embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a user interface diagram depicting graphical user interfaceelements for selectively blocking location information, according tosome example embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method for selectivelyblocking location identification of a mobile computing device, accordingto some example embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a user interface diagram depicting graphical user interfaceelements presenting location information, according to some exampleembodiments.

FIG. 8 is a user interface diagram depicting graphical user interfaceelements for blocking location information, according to some exampleembodiments.

FIG. 9 is a user interface diagram depicting an example mobile deviceand mobile operating system interface, according to some exampleembodiments.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a softwarearchitecture that may be installed on a machine, according to someexample embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram presenting a diagrammatic representation of amachine in the form of a computer system within which a set ofinstructions may be executed for causing the machine to perform any ofthe methodologies discussed herein, according to an example embodiment.

The headings provided herein are merely for convenience and do notnecessarily affect the scope or meaning of the terms used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows includes systems, methods, techniques,instruction sequences, and computing machine program productsillustrative of embodiments of the disclosure. In the followingdescription, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific detailsare set forth in order to provide an understanding of variousembodiments of the inventive subject matter. It will be evident,however, to those skilled in the art, that embodiments of the inventivesubject matter may be practiced without these specific details. Ingeneral, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, andtechniques are not necessarily shown in detail.

One aspect of the present disclosure describes a system for selectivelyblocking location identification of a mobile computing device. In someembodiments, an application implementing a portion of the systems andmethods described herein is presented to a user of a mobile computingdevice. The application presents an interstitial interface screen. Theuser may interact with the interstitial interface screen to turn on ablocking mode which selectively blocks transmission or display oflocation information for a period of time. For example, a user mayselect a three hour or twenty-four hour window, during which locationinformation for the mobile computing device is not transmitted ordisplayed to a set of users or a set of mobile computing devices forusers known to the user selecting the blocking window. The period oftime may enable the user to initiate a location-blocking service andautomatically terminate the location-blocking service.

In some embodiments, a user interacts with a graphical user interfacedisplayed on their mobile computing device to enable a blocking mode.The user interface displays an interstitial screen presenting a set ofoptions for the blocking mode. For example, the interstitial screen mayprovide options for enabling the blocking mode based on a time (e.g.,three hours, twenty-four hours, or forever), a location or proximity toa location, a time of day, a time of month or year, interaction with adesignated application (e.g., a text messaging application, an activetelephone call, a video call, or a video game application), or any othersuitable selection metric, characteristic, or aspect. In someembodiments, options for enabling the blocking mode may include a togglefor automatically enabling the blocking mode (e.g., ghost mode). Theautomatic toggling may be time based, location based, proximity based(e.g., based on a proximity to a specified location), combinationsthereof, or based on other suitable attributes. For example, theblocking mode may automatically be toggled when a user returns home oris within a specified proximity of their home or a specified location.The systems and methods described herein may detect a home location byanalyzing a location history over time, provided based on userpermission or selection of location services. For example, the systemsmay determine a frequent charging location for a device, or a locationassociated with one or more specified time periods (e.g., overnight).Proximity to the automatically detected home location may automaticallyengage the blocking mode, and the blocking mode may be disengaged oncethe mobile computing device moves a predetermined distance from the homelocation. In instances where automated toggling of the blocking mode istime based, the systems and methods described herein may automaticallyblock location sharing based on a time of day (e.g., a current timebeing past a specified hour of the day or night).

In embodiments where the blocking mode is time based, the blocking modemay automatically end or be disabled after a termination of the selectedtime period. Prior to termination, the blocking mode may causepresentation of a timer subtext indicating an amount of time remainingwithin the time period for the blocking mode. Where the blocking mode isbased on a location or proximity to a location, the blocking mode maycause presentation of a proximity subtext indicating initiation of theblocking mode or termination of the blocking mode, or the mobilecomputing device approaching a boundary which would initiate orterminate the blocking mode.

The above is one specific example. The various embodiments of thepresent disclosure relate to devices and instructions that cause one ormore processors of a device to selectively present or blocktransmission, sharing, display, or other presentation of locationinformation or identification. A location locking system is describedthat enables selectively blocking location identification of a mobilecomputing device, such that a user may select a user interface elementto share location information with friends, preclude certain friendsfrom receiving location information, or generally prohibit others fromviewing the user's location.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram depicting a network system 100 having aclient-server architecture configured for exchanging data over anetwork, according to one embodiment. For example, the network system100 may be a messaging system where clients communicate and exchangedata within the network system 100. The data may pertain to variousfunctions (e.g., sending and receiving text and media communication,determining geolocation, etc.) and aspects (e.g., transferringcommunications data, receiving and transmitting indications ofcommunication sessions, etc.) associated with the network system 100 andits users. Although the network system 100 is illustrated herein ashaving a client-server architecture, other embodiments may include othernetwork architectures, such as peer-to-peer or distributed networkenvironments.

As shown in FIG. 1, the network system 100 includes a social messagingsystem 130. The social messaging system 130 is generally based on athree-tiered architecture, consisting of an interface layer 124, anapplication logic layer 126, and a data layer 128. As is understood byskilled artisans in the relevant computer and Internet-related arts,each component or engine shown in FIG. 1 represents a set of executablesoftware instructions and the corresponding hardware (e.g., memory andprocessor) for executing the instructions, forming ahardware-implemented component or engine and acting, at the time of theexecution of the instructions, as a special-purpose machine configuredto carry out a particular set of functions. To avoid obscuring theinventive subject matter with unnecessary detail, various functionalcomponents and engines that are not germane to conveying anunderstanding of the inventive subject matter have been omitted fromFIG. 1. Of course, additional functional components and engines may beused with a social messaging system, such as that illustrated in FIG. 1,to facilitate additional functionality that is not specificallydescribed herein. Furthermore, the various functional components andengines depicted in FIG. 1 may reside on a single server computer orclient device, or may be distributed across several server computers orclient devices in various arrangements. Moreover, although the socialmessaging system 130 is depicted in FIG. 1 as having a three-tieredarchitecture, the inventive subject matter is by no means limited tosuch an architecture.

As shown in FIG. 1, the interface layer 124 consists of interfacecomponent(s) (e.g., a web server) 140, which receive requests fromvarious client-computing devices and servers, such as a client device110 executing client application(s) 112, and third-party server(s) 120executing third-party application(s) 122. In response to receivedrequests, the interface component(s) 140 communicate appropriateresponses to requesting devices via a network 104. For example, theinterface component(s) 140 can receive requests such as HypertextTransfer Protocol (HTTP) requests, or other web-based, ApplicationProgramming Interface (API) requests.

The client device 110 can execute conventional web browser applicationsor applications (also referred to as “apps”) that have been developedfor a specific platform to include any of a wide variety of mobilecomputing devices and mobile-specific operating systems (e.g., IOS™,ANDROID™, WINDOWS® PHONE). Further, in some example embodiments, theclient device 110 forms all or part of a location locking system 160such that components of the location locking system 160 configure theclient device 110 to perform a specific set of functions with respect tooperations of the location locking system 160.

In an example, the client device 110 is executing the clientapplication(s) 112. The client application(s) 112 can providefunctionality to present information to a user 106 and communicate viathe network 104 to exchange information with the social messaging system130. Further, in some examples, the client device 110 executesfunctionality of the location locking system 160 to enable selectiveblocking of location identification of a mobile computing device (e.g.,client device 110).

A client device 110, or each client device 110 interacting with thenetwork system 100, can comprise a computing device that includes atleast a display and communication capabilities with the network 104 toaccess the social messaging system 130, other client devices, andthird-party server(s) 120. Client devices 110 comprise, but are notlimited to, remote devices, work stations, computers, general-purposecomputers. Internet appliances, hand-held devices, wireless devices,portable devices, wearable computers, cellular or mobile phones,personal digital assistants (PDAs), smart phones, tablets, ultrabooks,netbooks, laptops, desktops, multi-processor systems,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, gameconsoles, set-top boxes, network PCs, mini-computers, and the like. Theuser 106 can be a person, a machine, or other means of interacting withthe client device 110. In some embodiments, the user 106 interacts withthe social messaging system 130 via the client device 110. The user 106may not be part of the network system 100, but may be associated withthe client device 110.

As shown in FIG. 1, the data layer 128 has database server(s) 132 thatfacilitate access to information storage repositories or database(s)134. The database(s) 134 are storage devices that store data such asmember profile data, social graph data (e.g., relationships betweenmembers of the social messaging system 130), image modificationpreference data, accessibility data, and other user data.

An individual can register with the social messaging system 130 tobecome a member of the social messaging system 130. Once registered, amember can form social network relationships (e.g., friends, followers,or contacts) on the social messaging system 130 and interact with abroad range of applications provided by the social messaging system 130.

The application logic layer 126 includes various application logiccomponents 150, which, in conjunction with the interface component(s)140, generate various user interfaces with data retrieved from variousdata sources or data services in the data layer 128. Individualapplication logic components 150 may be used to implement thefunctionality associated with various applications, services, andfeatures of the social messaging system 130. For instance, a socialmessaging application can be implemented with at least a portion of theapplication logic components 150. The social messaging applicationprovides a messaging mechanism for users of the client devices 110 tosend and receive messages that include text and media content such aspictures and video. The client devices 110 may access and view themessages from the social messaging application for a specified period oftime (e.g., limited or unlimited). In an example, a particular messageis accessible to a message recipient for a predefined duration (e.g.,specified by a message sender) that begins when the particular messageis first accessed. After the predefined duration elapses, the message isdeleted and is no longer accessible to the message recipient. Of course,other applications and services may be separately embodied in their ownapplication logic components 150.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the social messaging system 130 may include atleast a portion of the location locking system 160 capable ofselectively blocking location identification of a mobile computingdevice. Similarly, the client device 110 includes at least a portion ofthe location locking system 160, as described above. In other examples,the client device 110 may include the entirety of the location lockingsystem 160. In instances where the client device 110 includes a portionof (or all of) the location locking system 160, the client device 110can work alone or in cooperation with the social messaging system 130 toprovide the functionality of the location locking system 160 describedherein.

In some embodiments, the social messaging system 130 may be an ephemeralmessage system that enables ephemeral communications where content(e.g., video clips or images) is deleted following a deletion triggerevent such as a viewing time or viewing completion. In such embodiments,a device uses the various components described herein within the contextof any of generating, sending, receiving, or displaying aspects of anephemeral message. For example, a device implementing the locationlocking system 160 may selectively block location identification of amobile computing device in response to a time-based selection by a user.The device may selectively block broadcast or transmission of locationinformation as a part of interacting with the social messaging system130. In some embodiments, the selective location blocking may beperformed during generation and transmission of content for an ephemeralmessage.

In FIG. 2, in various embodiments, the location locking system 160 canbe implemented as a standalone system or implemented in conjunction withthe client device 110, and is not necessarily included in the socialmessaging system 130. The location locking system 160 is shown toinclude a location component 210, an interaction component 220, apresentation component 230, an interface component 240, and a timingcomponent 250. All, or some, of the components 210-250 communicate witheach other, for example, via a network coupling, shared memory, and thelike. Each component of the components 210-250 can be implemented as asingle component, combined with other components, or further subdividedinto multiple components. Other components not pertinent to exampleembodiments can also be included, but are not shown.

FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example method 300 forselectively blocking location identification of a mobile computingdevice. The operations of the method 300 may be performed by componentsof the location locking system 160, and are so described below forpurposes of illustration.

In operation 310, the location component 210 identifies a currentlocation of a mobile computing device (e.g., the client device 110). Thelocation component 210 may identify the current location of the mobilecomputing device via triangulation of one or more signals of the mobilecomputing device interacting with one or more transmission towers, viaGlobal Positioning System signals, via movement information generated byone or more sensors of the mobile computing device, via entry oflocation information by a user, via one or more location servicesenabled for an application operating on the mobile computing device,combinations thereof, or by any other suitable means. In some instances,the location component 210 identifies the current location of the mobilecomputing device upon initiation or opening of an application on themobile computing device. The application may be associated with thelocation locking system 160, such as an application of the socialmessaging system 130.

In operation 320, the interaction component 220 detects a selection of auser interface element associated with the current location of themobile computing device. In some embodiments, the user interface elementis presented in a graphical user interface depicted on a displaycomponent of the mobile computing device during operation of theapplication. As shown in FIGS. 4-5, a blocking element 402 may bepresented within a graphical user interface 400 for the application. Theblocking element 402 may correspond to a blocking mode of the locationlocking system 160. The blocking mode may prevent the mobile computingdevice or a server associated with the location locking system 160 fromidentifying, transmitting, or otherwise sharing location information(e.g., the current location) of the mobile computing device with one ormore other mobile computing devices associated with one or more of theuser of the mobile computing device, users within a social network ofthe user of the mobile computing device, the social messaging system130, the location locking system 160, or combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, the blocking mode may be referenced or furtherreferred to herein as a “ghost mode.” In the ghost mode, locationsharing is toggled to an off position and the user is no longerdisplayed on graphical user interfaces on others' devices. Note that theghost mode functionality described herein is to be distinguished fromturning off location services on a mobile user device. Thus, when ghostmode is turned on, the device location services are still functioning,so that the user location can still be determined and displayed on a mapgraphical user interface, with social media content captured in ghostmode still being geo-tagged. When the user turns on ghost mode afterpreviously being present on the map, the user's bitmoji may disappearwithin seconds from other people's maps. When in ghost mode, the usercan still see anyone on the map who has chosen to share their locationwith the user. In this example embodiment, each user is represented by abitmoji. If the friend does not have a bitmoji, a profile picture withina user interface element (e.g., a ghost icon) is shown. If no profilepicture is available for a particular friend, a default icon (e.g., ablank ghost) is displayed at the corresponding location.

In operation 330, the presentation component 230 causes presentation ofa set of display elements. In some embodiments, the set of displayelements corresponds to the current location identified in operation310. The set of display elements may represent one or more displaycharacteristics for the current location of the mobile computing device.Display characteristics may include colors, shapes, ideograms,characters, digital representations of users, locations on a map,combinations thereof, and any other suitable representation or set ofrepresentations.

As shown in FIG. 4, a set of display elements 404 may be presentedwithin an interstitial display element 406. The interstitial displayelement 406 may be presented as an overlay on or otherwise obfuscatingat least a portion of the graphical user interface 400. In someembodiments, once the blocking element 402 is selected, the graphicaluser interface 400 may be locked until the mobile computing device orthe location locking system 160 detects selection of at least one of theset of display elements 404. In some instances, as shown in FIG. 4, theset of display elements 404 represents selections indicating limitationsto be placed on sharing or otherwise transmitting the current locationof the mobile computing device. In FIG. 4, the set of display elementsincludes three time periods: a first element 408 for a three hour timeperiod, a second element 410 for a twenty-four hour period, and a thirdelement 412 for an indeterminate period (e.g., forever).

In operation 340, the interaction component 220 detects selection of adisplay element of the set of display elements. In some embodiments, theinteraction component 220 detects user interaction with an input devicerepresenting selection of the display element. For example, theinteraction component 220 may include or cooperate with a user interfacecomponent, such as a touch screen, to detect a user interaction with themobile computing device and identify a user interface element with whichthe user intends to interact. For example, the user may tap or touch atouch screen at a position proximate to or covering the first element408.

In operation 350, the interface component 240 modifies a displaycharacteristic for the current location of the mobile computing devicewithin a set of mobile computing devices. For example, as shown in FIG.8, the interface component 240 may obfuscate a portion of an avatarrepresenting the current location of the mobile computing device. Insome embodiments, the set of mobile computing devices are distinct fromthe mobile computing device associated with the current locationidentified in operation 310. In some instances, the mobile computingdevice is associated with a first user and the set of mobile computingdevices are associated with a set of second users. The set of secondusers may be linked or otherwise associated with the first user, such asby connections within a social network defined within the socialmessaging system 130.

The interface component 240 may modify the display characteristic forthe current location of the mobile computing device by removing an icon,representative of the mobile computing device, from a display presentedat one or more of the mobile computing devices of the set of mobilecomputing devices. For example, the current location of the user and themobile computing device may be presented or represented, on mobilecomputing devices of friends, family, and members of the user's socialnetwork, as an icon. The icon may be a picture of the user, an ideograph(e.g., an emoji, an ideogram, or a digital sticker), an avatar, an imageselected by the user, a logo, or any other suitable graphicalrepresentation of the user. The icon may be presented within graphicaluser interfaces displayed on the set of mobile computing devices whilethe mobile computing device of the user is in a location-sharing mode. Aposition of the icon within a map, depicted on a screen of the clientdevice 110 within a user interface, may be updated periodically (e.g.,upon the user logging into an application associated with the locationlocking system 160 or the social messaging system 130), in real time(e.g., by continually updating or monitoring the position of the userwhile the user is interacting with the application), in near-real time(e.g., by position polling or periodically updating at a specified timeinterval), or according to any other suitable position-updating scheme.

Upon detecting selection of a display element of the set of displayelements indicating a location locking interaction, the interfacecomponent 240 may modify one or more aspects of the graphical userinterface at the mobile computing device of the user and at the set ofmobile computing devices of users associated with a social network ofthe user, or otherwise suitably connected to the user. As describedabove, where the current location of the mobile computing device ispresented as an icon on a map, the interface component 240 may modifythe display characteristic by removing the icon on the map depicted onthe set of mobile computing devices.

In some embodiments, the interface component 240 modifies the displaycharacteristic by locking the current position of the icon on the map.While the user and the mobile computing device may change position, theicon remains locked in the last location identified prior to receivingthe location locking interaction. In addition to locking the position ofthe icon, the interface component 240 may also generate a representationof the location locking interaction. For example, the interfacecomponent 240 may change a color of the icon, place a strike or “X” overthe icon, or otherwise indicate that the location is locked or otherwiseprecluded from updating or sharing.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example method 600 forselectively blocking location identification of a mobile computingdevice. The operations of the method 600 may be performed by componentsof the location locking system 160. In some instances, certainoperations of the method 600 may be performed using one or moreoperations of the method 300 or as sub-operations of one or moreoperations of the method 300, as will be explained in more detail below.

In operation 610, the timing component 250 identifies a time period. Insome embodiments, the time period is associated with one or more of thedisplay element, the display characteristic, or combinations thereof.Upon identifying the time period, the timing component 250 may initiatethe time period. The time period may be initiated in association withthe display element, and at a first time. In some instances, the firsttime corresponds to selection of the display element.

In operation 620, the interface component 240 modifies a depiction ofthe display element. In some embodiments, the interface component 240modifies the depiction of the display element in response to detectingselection of the display element. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, adisplay element 500 may be depicted within the graphical user interface400, proximate to the blocking element 402, and represent informationrelated to the blocking element 402. Once the blocking element 402 isselected and a display element of the set of display elements 404 isselected, the interface component 240 may modify presentation of thedisplay element to include at least a portion of the time period.

In some embodiments, along with modifying the depiction of the displayelement, the interface component 240 modifies a display characteristicfor the current location of the mobile computing device within a set ofmobile computing devices. The display characteristic may be modified forthe current location of the mobile computing device by changing thecurrent location from a first display characteristic to a second displaycharacteristic. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a first displaycharacteristic 700 may comprise an avatar 702 associated with a user ofthe mobile computing device. The first display characteristic 700 mayalso include a position or location on a map 704. The avatar 702 may bedepicted as positioned on the map 704 within the set of mobile computingdevices (e.g., mobile computing devices of friends of the user).Modification of the first display characteristic 700 to the seconddisplay characteristic 706, shown in FIG. 8, may comprise presenting theavatar 702 with an obfuscating element 710 positioned over the avatar702. For example, where the avatar 702 is a representation of the userof the mobile computing device (e.g., an animated person or character),the second display characteristic 706 may be generated by placing amask, a sign, or another obfuscating element 710 in front of a face ofthe animated character or animating the character to place the mask,sign, or obfuscating element on the face of the character. In someinstances, the second display characteristic 706 includes a location onthe map 704, such as a subsequent location at which the animatedcharacter is positioned at a time subsequent to the position of theanimated character at a location associated with the first displaycharacteristic 700.

In operation 630, the interface component 240 generates a notificationcorresponding to the time period. In some embodiments, the notificationis presented within a graphical user interface proximate to the modifieddepiction of the display element. As shown in FIG. 5, the notificationmay be included in the display element 500 as a countdown or timercorresponding to the time period.

In operation 640, the timing component 250 detects exhaustion of thetime period. The exhaustion of the time period may be detected at a time(e.g., a second time) subsequent to a time (e.g., a first time) at whichthe time period is initiated, as in operation 610. The timing component250 may detect exhaustion of the time period by determining that a timerpresented with the display element 500 has reached zero.

In some embodiments, as described above with respect to operation 620,where the interface component 240 modifies the display element and thedisplay characteristic, for the current location, from the first displaycharacteristic to the second display characteristic, the interfacecomponent 240 may automatically modify the display characteristic of thecurrent location from the second display characteristic to a thirddisplay characteristic. In some instances, modification of the currentlocation from the second display characteristic to the third displaycharacteristic is performed automatically, in response to detecting theexhaustion of the time period by the timing component 250. In someinstances, the third display characteristic is identical to the firstdisplay characteristic. In such instances, the interface component 240may modify the current location from the second display characteristicto the third display characteristic by reverting display characteristicsof the current location back to the first display characteristic.

In some instances, the interface component 240 modifies the seconddisplay characteristic to the third display characteristic by changingthe second display characteristic to an intermediate characteristic. Insuch instances, the interaction component 220 detects an interaction atthe mobile computing device. In response to the interaction component220 detecting the interaction, the interface component 240 modifies theintermediate characteristic of the current location to the first displaycharacteristic.

In operation 650, the interface component 240 automatically modifies thedepiction of the display element. In some embodiments, the interfacecomponent 240 reverts the depiction in response to detecting exhaustionof the time period. In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 7-8, theinterface component 240 may revert the depiction by removing theobfuscating element from in front of the avatar, determining a currentlocation of the mobile computing device, and placing the avatar at aposition on the map corresponding to the new current location.

As shown in FIGS. 7-8, toggling a blocking mode “on” may transitiondisplay of the user's location in others' graphical user interfaces froma representation in FIG. 7 to the representation in FIG. 8. Where theblocking mode is toggled “off,” the display in the others' graphicaluser interfaces may transition from the representation in FIG. 8 to therepresentation in FIG. 7.

In some embodiments, in addition to user locations on a map, a carouselmay be presented at each user's mobile computing device. The carouselmay include icons and locations for each user sharing a current locationwith the viewing user. In some instances, each friend is represented bya respective rectangular friend panel or card at the bottom of thescreen. Swiping left or right on the friend panel brings into view thenext or previous friend panel, as the case may be. In some embodiments,swiping to a particular friend automatically centers the map view on theicon of that friend. Note that all of the user's friends sharinglocation should be visible in the carousel, not just those in thecurrent viewport. Friends are in this embodiment ordered in the carouselby update recency.

In embodiments where users sharing current locations are presented in orrepresented within the carousel, toggling the ghost mode or blockingmode into an “on” position, precluding sharing of location information,the user may remain within the carousel. Though the user or arepresentation thereof remains in the carousel, location information maybe removed from an access control list and the carousel. Users withinthe list or carousel may remain the same, while their locationinformation is removed from a data structure or database populating thecarousel or the access control list, preventing tracking of the user orviewing the current location of the user.

Modules, Components, and Logic

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Components can constitutehardware components. A “hardware component” is a tangible unit capableof performing certain operations and can be configured or arranged in acertain physical manner. In various example embodiments, computersystems (e.g., a standalone computer system, a client computer system,or a server computer system) or hardware components of a computer system(e.g., at least one hardware processor, a processor, or a group ofprocessors) is configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware component that operates to performcertain operations as described herein.

In some embodiments, a hardware component is implemented mechanically,electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, ahardware component can include dedicated circuitry or logic that ispermanently configured to perform certain operations. For example, ahardware component can be a special-purpose processor, such as aField-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC). A hardware component may also includeprogrammable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configured bysoftware to perform certain operations. For example, a hardwarecomponent can include software encompassed within a general-purposeprocessor or other programmable processor. It will be appreciated thatthe decision to implement a hardware component mechanically, indedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarilyconfigured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) can be driven bycost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the phrase “hardware component” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or toperform certain operations described herein. As used herein,“hardware-implemented component” refers to a hardware component.Considering embodiments in which hardware components are temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed), each of the hardware components need notbe configured or instantiated at any one instance in time. For example,where a hardware component comprises a general-purpose processorconfigured by software to become a special-purpose processor, thegeneral-purpose processor may be configured as respectively differentspecial-purpose processors (e.g., comprising different hardwarecomponents) at different times. Software can accordingly configure aparticular processor or processors, for example, to constitute aparticular hardware component at one instance of time and to constitutea different hardware component at a different instance of time.

Hardware components can provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware components. Accordingly, the described hardwarecomponents can be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Wheremultiple hardware components exist contemporaneously, communications canbe achieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) between or among two or more of the hardware components. Inembodiments in which multiple hardware components are configured orinstantiated at different times, communications between such hardwarecomponents may be achieved, for example, through the storage andretrieval of information in memory structures to which the multiplehardware components have access. For example, one hardware componentperforms an operation and stores the output of that operation in amemory device to which it is communicatively coupled. A further hardwarecomponent can then, at a later time, access the memory device toretrieve and process the stored output. Hardware components can alsoinitiate communications with input or output devices, and can operate ona resource (e.g., a collection of information).

The various operations of example methods described herein can beperformed, at least partially, by processors that are temporarilyconfigured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured to perform therelevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanently configured, suchprocessors constitute processor-implemented components that operate toperform one or more operations or functions described herein. As usedherein. “processor-implemented component” refers to a hardware componentimplemented using processors.

Similarly, the methods described herein can be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors beingan example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations ofa method can be performed by processors or processor-implementedcomponents. Moreover, the processors may also operate to supportperformance of the relevant operations in a “cloud computing”environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS). For example, atleast some of the operations may be performed by a group of computers(as examples of machines including processors), with these operationsbeing accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and via appropriateinterfaces (e.g., an application programming interface (API)).

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe processors, not only residing within a single machine, but deployedacross a number of machines. In some example embodiments, the processorsor processor-implemented components are located in a single geographiclocation (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or aserver farm). In other example embodiments, the processors orprocessor-implemented components are distributed across a number ofgeographic locations.

Applications

FIG. 9 illustrates an example mobile device 900 executing a mobileoperating system (e.g., IOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or other mobileoperating systems), consistent with some embodiments. In one embodiment,the mobile device 900 includes a touch screen operable to receivetactile data from a user 902. For instance, the user 902 may physicallytouch 904 the mobile device 900, and in response to the touch 904, themobile device 900 may determine tactile data such as touch location,touch force, or gesture motion. In various example embodiments, themobile device 900 displays a home screen 906 (e.g., Springboard on IOS™)operable to launch applications or otherwise manage various aspects ofthe mobile device 900. In some example embodiments, the home screen 906provides status information such as battery life, connectivity, or otherhardware statuses. The user 902 can activate user interface elements bytouching an area occupied by a respective user interface element. Inthis manner, the user 902 interacts with the applications of the mobiledevice 900. For example, touching the area occupied by a particular iconincluded in the home screen 906 causes launching of an applicationcorresponding to the particular icon.

The mobile device 900, as shown in FIG. 9, includes an imaging device908. The imaging device 908 may be a camera or any other device coupledto the mobile device 900 capable of capturing a video stream or one ormore successive images. The imaging device 908 may be triggered by thelocation locking system 160 or a selectable user interface element toinitiate capture of a video stream or succession of images and pass thevideo stream or succession of images to the location locking system 160for processing according to the one or more methods described in thepresent disclosure.

Many varieties of applications (also referred to as “apps”) can beexecuting on the mobile device 900, such as native applications (e.g.,applications programmed in Objective-C, Swift, or another suitablelanguage running on IOS™, or applications programmed in Java running onANDROID™), mobile web applications (e.g., applications written inHypertext Markup Language-5 (HTML5)), or hybrid applications (e.g., anative shell application that launches an HTML5 session). For example,the mobile device 900 includes a messaging app, an audio recording app,a camera app, a book reader app, a media app, a fitness app, a filemanagement app, a location app, a browser app, a settings app, acontacts app, a telephone call app, or other apps (e.g., gaming apps,social networking apps, biometric monitoring apps). In another example,the mobile device 900 includes a social messaging app 910 that,consistent with some embodiments, allows users to exchange ephemeralmessages that include media content. In this example, the socialmessaging app 910 can incorporate aspects of embodiments describedherein. For example, in some embodiments the social messaging app 910includes an ephemeral gallery of media created by users of the socialmessaging app 910. These galleries may consist of videos or picturesposted by a user and made viewable by contacts (e.g., “friends”) of theuser. Alternatively, public galleries may be created by administratorsof the social messaging app 910 consisting of media from any users ofthe application (and accessible by all users). In yet anotherembodiment, the social messaging app 910 may include a “magazine”feature which consists of articles and other content generated bypublishers on the social messaging app 910's platform and accessible byany users. Any of these environments or platforms may be used toimplement concepts of the present inventive subject matter.

In some embodiments, an ephemeral message system may include messageshaving ephemeral video clips or images which are deleted following adeletion trigger event such as a viewing time or viewing completion. Insuch embodiments, a device implementing the location locking system 160may selectively block location information within a user interfaceconfigured to receive the ephemeral message, and transmit the ephemeralmessage to another device using the ephemeral message system, withoutpresenting the location information of the user or the mobile computingdevice transmitting or generating the ephemeral message.

Software Architecture

FIG. 10 is a block diagram 1000 illustrating an architecture of software1002, which can be installed on the devices described above. FIG. 10 ismerely a non-limiting example of a software architecture, and it will beappreciated that many other architectures can be implemented tofacilitate the functionality described herein. In various embodiments,the software 1002 is implemented by hardware such as a machine 1100 ofFIG. 11 that includes processors 1110, memory 1130, and I/O components1150. In this example architecture, the software 1002 can beconceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer may provide aparticular functionality. For example, the software 1002 includes layerssuch as an operating system 1004, libraries 1006, frameworks 1008, andapplications 1010. Operationally, the applications 1010 invokeapplication programming interface (API) calls 1012 through the softwarestack and receive messages 1014 in response to the API calls 1012,consistent with some embodiments.

In various implementations, the operating system 1004 manages hardwareresources and provides common services. The operating system 1004includes, for example, a kernel 1020, services 1022, and drivers 1024.The kernel 1020 acts as an abstraction layer between the hardware andthe other software layers consistent with some embodiments. For example,the kernel 1020 provides memory management, processor management (e.g.,scheduling), component management, networking, and security settings,among other functionality. The services 1022 can provide other commonservices for the other software layers. The drivers 1024 are responsiblefor controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware, accordingto some embodiments. For instance, the drivers 1024 can include displaydrivers, camera drivers. BLUETOOTH® drivers, flash memory drivers,serial communication drivers (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers).WI-FI® drivers, audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth.

In some embodiments, the libraries 1006 provide a low-level commoninfrastructure utilized by the applications 1010. The libraries 1006 caninclude system libraries 1030 (e.g., C standard library) that canprovide functions such as memory allocation functions, stringmanipulation functions, mathematic functions, and the like. In addition,the libraries 1006 can include API libraries 1032 such as medialibraries (e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation ofvarious media formats such as Moving Picture Experts Group-4 (MPEG4),Advanced Video Coding (H.264 or AVC), Moving Picture Experts GroupLayer-3 (MP3), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR)audio codec. Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG or JPG), or PortableNetwork Graphics (PNG)), graphics libraries (e.g., an OpenGL frameworkused to render in two dimensions (2D) and three dimensions (3D) in agraphic context on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite toprovide various relational database functions), web libraries (e.g.,WebKit to provide web browsing functionality), and the like. Thelibraries 1006 can also include a wide variety of other libraries 1034to provide many other APIs to the applications 1010.

The frameworks 1008 provide a high-level common infrastructure that canbe utilized by the applications 1010, according to some embodiments. Forexample, the frameworks 1008 provide various graphic user interface(GUI) functions, high-level resource management, high-level locationservices, and so forth. The frameworks 1008 can provide a broad spectrumof other APIs that can be utilized by the applications 1010, some ofwhich may be specific to a particular operating system or platform.

In an example embodiment, the applications 1010 include a homeapplication 1050, a contacts application 1052, a browser application1054, a book reader application 1056, a location application 1058, amedia application 1060, a messaging application 1062, a game application1064, and a broad assortment of other applications such as a third-partyapplication 1066. According to some embodiments, the applications 1010are programs that execute functions defined in the programs. Variousprogramming languages can be employed to create the applications 1010,structured in a variety of manners, such as object-oriented programminglanguages (e.g., Objective-C. Java, or C++) or procedural programminglanguages (e.g., C or assembly language). In a specific example, thethird-party application 1066 (e.g., an application developed using theANDROID™ or IOS™ software development kit (SDK) by an entity other thanthe vendor of the particular platform) may be mobile software running ona mobile operating system such as IOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® PHONE, oranother mobile operating system. In this example, the third-partyapplication 1066 can invoke the API calls 1012 provided by the operatingsystem 1004 to facilitate functionality described herein.

Example Machine Architecture and Machine-Readable Medium

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 1100,according to some embodiments, able to read instructions (e.g.,processor-executable instructions) from a machine-readable medium (e.g.,a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any of themethodologies discussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 11 shows adiagrammatic representation of the machine 1100 in the example form of acomputer system, within which instructions 1116 (e.g., software, aprogram, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code)for causing the machine 1100 to perform any of the methodologiesdiscussed herein can be executed. In alternative embodiments, themachine 1100 operates as a standalone device or can be coupled (e.g.,networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine1100 may operate in the capacity of a server machine or a client machinein a server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine 1100 cancomprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, a client computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook,a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), anentertainment media system, a cellular telephone, a smart phone, amobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), a smart homedevice (e.g., a smart appliance), other smart devices, a web appliance,a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or any machinecapable of executing the instructions 1116, sequentially or otherwise,that specify actions to be taken by the machine 1100. Further, whileonly a single machine 1100 is illustrated, the term “machine” shall alsobe taken to include a collection of machines 1100 that individually orjointly execute the instructions 1116 to perform any of themethodologies discussed herein.

In various embodiments, the machine 1100 comprises processors 1110,memory 1130, and I/O components 1150, which can be configured tocommunicate with each other via a bus 1102. In an example embodiment,the processors 1110 (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a ReducedInstruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction SetComputing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a DigitalSignal Processor (DSP), an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit(ASIC), a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor,or any suitable combination thereof) include, for example, a processor1112 and a processor 1114 that may execute the instructions 1116. Theterm “processor” is intended to include multi-core processors that maycomprise two or more independent processors (also referred to as“cores”) that can execute instructions 1116 contemporaneously. AlthoughFIG. 11 shows multiple processors 1110, the machine 1100 may include asingle processor with a single core, a single processor with multiplecores (e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors with a singlecore, multiple processors with multiple cores, or any combinationthereof.

The memory 1130 comprises a main memory 1132, a static memory 1134, anda storage unit 1136 accessible to the processors 1110 via the bus 1102,according to some embodiments. The storage unit 1136 can include amachine-readable medium 1138 on which are stored the instructions 1116embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein. The instructions 1116 can also reside, completely or at leastpartially, within the main memory 1132, within the static memory 1134,within at least one of the processors 1110 (e.g., within the processor'scache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, during executionthereof by the machine 1100. Accordingly, in various embodiments, themain memory 1132, the static memory 1134, and the processors 1110 areconsidered machine-readable media 1138.

As used herein, the term “memory” refers to a machine-readable medium1138 able to store data temporarily or permanently and may be taken toinclude, but not be limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory, and cache memory. While themachine-readable medium 1138 is shown in an example embodiment to be asingle medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken toinclude a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, or associated caches and servers) able to storethe instructions 1116. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also betaken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media, that iscapable of storing instructions (e.g., the instructions 1116) forexecution by a machine (e.g., the machine 1100), such that theinstructions, when executed by processors of the machine (e.g., theprocessors 1110), cause the machine to perform any of the methodologiesdescribed herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium” refers to asingle storage apparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based” storagesystems or storage networks that include multiple storage apparatus ordevices. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be takento include, but not be limited to, data repositories in the form of asolid-state memory (e.g., flash memory), an optical medium, a magneticmedium, other non-volatile memory (e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EPROM)), or any suitable combination thereof. The term“machine-readable medium” specifically excludes non-statutory signalsper se.

The I/O components 1150 include a wide variety of components to receiveinput, provide output, produce output, transmit information, exchangeinformation, capture measurements, and so on. In general, it will beappreciated that the I/O components 1150 can include many othercomponents that are not shown in FIG. 11. The I/O components 1150 aregrouped according to functionality merely for simplifying the followingdiscussion, and the grouping is in no way limiting. In various exampleembodiments, the I/O components 1150 include output components 1152 andinput components 1154. The output components 1152 include visualcomponents (e.g., a display such as a plasma display panel (PDP), alight-emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), aprojector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), acoustic components (e.g.,speakers), haptic components (e.g., a vibratory motor), other signalgenerators, and so forth. The input components 1154 include alphanumericinput components (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointinginstruments), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and force of touches or touch gestures, orother tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In some further example embodiments, the I/O components 1150 includebiometric components 1156, motion components 1158, environmentalcomponents 1160, or position components 1162, among a wide array ofother components. For example, the biometric components 1156 includecomponents to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or mouth gestures),measure biosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram-basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 1158 includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environmental components 1160 include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensor components(e.g., machine olfaction detection sensors, gas detection sensors todetect concentrations of hazardous gases for safety or to measurepollutants in the atmosphere), or other components that may provideindications, measurements, or signals corresponding to a surroundingphysical environment. The position components 1162 include locationsensor components (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receivercomponent), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometersthat detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived),orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication can be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 1150 may include communication components 1164operable to couple the machine 1100 to a network 1180 or devices 1170via a coupling 1182 and a coupling 1172, respectively. For example, thecommunication components 1164 include a network interface component oranother suitable device to interface with the network 1180. In furtherexamples, the communication components 1164 include wired communicationcomponents, wireless communication components, cellular communicationcomponents, Near Field Communication (NFC) components. BLUETOOTH®components (e.g., BLUETOOTH® Low Energy), WI-FI® components, and othercommunication components to provide communication via other modalities.The devices 1170 may be another machine or any of a wide variety ofperipheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a UniversalSerial Bus (USB)).

Moreover, in some embodiments, the communication components 1164 detectidentifiers or include components operable to detect identifiers. Forexample, the communication components 1164 include Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detectioncomponents, optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as a Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode, multi-dimensional bar codes such as a Quick Response (QR) code,Aztec Code. Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code,Uniform Commercial Code Reduced Space Symbology (UCC RSS)-2D bar codes,and other optical codes), acoustic detection components (e.g.,microphones to identify tagged audio signals), or any suitablecombination thereof. In addition, a variety of information can bederived via the communication components 1164, such as location viaInternet Protocol (IP) geo-location, location via WI-FI® signaltriangulation, location via detecting a BLUETOOTH® or NFC beacon signalthat may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

Transmission Medium

In various example embodiments, portions of the network 1180 can be anad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network(VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN),the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS)network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a WI-FI®network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more suchnetworks. For example, the network 1180 or a portion of the network 1180may include a wireless or cellular network, and the coupling 1182 may bea Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System forMobile communications (GSM) connection, or another type of cellular orwireless coupling. In this example, the coupling 1182 can implement anyof a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as SingleCarrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT). Evolution-Data Optimized(EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology,Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, thirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generationwireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA). Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard, othersdefined by various standard-setting organizations, other long-rangeprotocols, or other data transfer technology.

In example embodiments, the instructions 1116 are transmitted orreceived over the network 1180 using a transmission medium via a networkinterface device (e.g., a network interface component included in thecommunication components 1164) and utilizing any one of a number ofwell-known transfer protocols (e.g., Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP)). Similarly, in other example embodiments, the instructions 1116are transmitted or received using a transmission medium via the coupling1172 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 1170. The term“transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible mediumthat is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying the instructions 1116for execution by the machine 1100, and includes digital or analogcommunications signals or other intangible media to facilitatecommunication of such software.

Furthermore, the machine-readable medium 1138 is non-transitory (inother words, not having any transitory signals) in that it does notembody a propagating signal. However, labeling the machine-readablemedium 1138 “non-transitory” should not be construed to mean that themedium is incapable of movement; the medium should be considered asbeing transportable from one physical location to another. Additionally,since the machine-readable medium 1138 is tangible, the medium may beconsidered to be a machine-readable device. LANGUAGE

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more individual operationsmay be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that the operationsbe performed in the order illustrated. Structures and functionalitypresented as separate components in example configurations may beimplemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly, structuresand functionality presented as a single component may be implemented asseparate components. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements fall within the scope of the subject matterherein.

Although an overview of the inventive subject matter has been describedwith reference to specific example embodiments, various modificationsand changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader scope of embodiments of the present disclosure. Such embodimentsof the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individuallyor collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience andwithout intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application toany single disclosure or inventive concept if more than one is, in fact,disclosed.

The embodiments illustrated herein are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed.Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. The Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided forresources, operations, or structures described herein as a singleinstance. Additionally, boundaries between various resources,operations, components, engines, and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in a context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within a scope of various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In general, structures and functionality presentedas separate resources in the example configurations may be implementedas a combined structure or resource. Similarly, structures andfunctionality presented as a single resource may be implemented asseparate resources. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements fall within a scope of embodiments of thepresent disclosure as represented by the appended claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: identifying, by one or moreprocessors, a current location of a mobile computing device; detecting aselection of a user interface element associated with the currentlocation of the mobile computing device; causing presentation of a setof display elements corresponding to the current location, the set ofdisplay elements representing one or more display characteristics forthe current location of the mobile computing device; detecting selectionof a display element of the set of display elements; in response todetecting the selection of the display element, changing the firstdisplay characteristic to a second display characteristic by modifyingthe first display characteristic with an interstitial display element;identifying a time period associated with the display element;initiating at a first time, the time period associated with the displayelement; detecting exhaustion of the time period at a second timesubsequent to the first time; and in response to detecting theexhaustion of the time period, automatically modifying the seconddisplay characteristic corresponding to the current location of themobile computing device by changing it to a third displaycharacteristic.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: prior todetecting exhaustion, causing presentation of a timer subtext indicatingan amount of time remaining within the time period.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein modifying the second display characteristic to a thirddisplay characteristic comprises reverting the second displaycharacteristic to the first display characteristic.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein modifying the second display characteristic to thethird display characteristic comprises changing the second displaycharacteristic to an intermediate characteristic, and the method furthercomprises: detecting an interaction with a user interface at the mobilecomputing device; and in response to detecting the interaction,modifying the intermediate characteristic for the current location tothe first display characteristic.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst display characteristic is a first location on a map and the seconddisplay characteristic is a subsequent location on the map.
 6. Themethod of claim, further comprising: generating, by the one or moreprocessors, a notification corresponding to the time period; modifying,by the one or more processors, an original depiction of the displayelement to a second depiction of the display element with thenotification; and in response to detecting the exhaustion of the timeperiod, automatically reverting the second depiction of the displayelement to the original depiction of the display element.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein modifying the display characteristic compriseslocking the current location of the mobile computing device.
 8. A systemcomprising: a memory that stores instructions; and one or moreprocessors configured by the instructions to perform operationscomprising: identifying, by one or more processors, a current locationof a mobile computing device; detecting a selection of a user interfaceelement associated with the current location of the mobile computingdevice; causing presentation of a set of display elements correspondingto the current location, the set of display elements representing one ormore display characteristics for the current location of the mobilecomputing device; detecting selection of a display element of the set ofdisplay elements; in response to detecting the selection of the displayelement, changing the first display characteristic to a second displaycharacteristic by modifying the first display characteristic with aninterstitial display element; identifying a time period associated withthe display element; initiating at a first time, the time periodassociated with the display element; detecting exhaustion of the timeperiod at a second time subsequent to the first time; and in response todetecting the exhaustion of the time period, automatically modifying thesecond display characteristic corresponding to the current location ofthe mobile computing device by changing it to a third displaycharacteristic.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations furthercomprise: prior to detecting exhaustion, causing presentation of a timersubtext indicating an amount of time remaining within the time period.10. The system of claim 8, wherein modifying the second displaycharacteristic to a third display characteristic comprises reverting thesecond display characteristic to the first display characteristic. 11.The system of claim 8, wherein modifying the second displaycharacteristic to the third display characteristic comprises changingthe second display characteristic to an intermediate characteristic, andthe method further comprises: detecting an interaction with a userinterface at the mobile computing device; and in response to detectingthe interaction, modifying the intermediate characteristic for thecurrent location to the first display characteristic.
 12. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the first display characteristic is a first location ona map and the second display characteristic is a subsequent location onthe map.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations furthercomprise: generating, by the one or more processors, a notificationcorresponding to the time period; modifying, by the one or moreprocessors, an original depiction of the display element to a seconddepiction of the display element with the notification; and in responseto detecting the exhaustion of the time period, automatically revertingthe second depiction of the display element to the original depiction ofthe display element.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein modifying thedisplay characteristic comprises locking the current location of themobile computing device.
 15. A non-transitory processor-readable storagemedium storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed bya processor of a machine, cause the machine to perform operationscomprising: identifying, by one or more processors, a current locationof a mobile computing device; detecting a selection of a user interfaceelement associated with the current location of the mobile computingdevice; causing presentation of a set of display elements correspondingto the current location, the set of display elements representing one ormore display characteristics for the current location of the mobilecomputing device; detecting selection of a display element of the set ofdisplay elements; in response to detecting the selection of the displayelement, changing the first display characteristic to a second displaycharacteristic by modifying the first display characteristic with aninterstitial display element; identifying a time period associated withthe display element; initiating at a first time, the time periodassociated with the display element; detecting exhaustion of the timeperiod at a second time subsequent to the first time; and in response todetecting the exhaustion of the time period, automatically modifying thesecond display characteristic corresponding to the current location ofthe mobile computing device by changing it to a third displaycharacteristic.
 16. The non-transitory processor-readable storage mediumof claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise: prior to detectingexhaustion, causing presentation of a timer subtext indicating an amountof time remaining within the time period.
 17. The non-transitoryprocessor-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein modifying thesecond display characteristic to a third display characteristiccomprises reverting the second display characteristic to the firstdisplay characteristic.
 18. The non-transitory processor-readablestorage medium of claim 15, wherein modifying the second displaycharacteristic to the third display characteristic comprises changingthe second display characteristic to an intermediate characteristic, andthe method further comprises: detecting an interaction with a userinterface at the mobile computing device; and in response to detectingthe interaction, modifying the intermediate characteristic for thecurrent location to the first display characteristic.
 19. Thenon-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 15, whereinthe first display characteristic is a first location on a map and thesecond display characteristic is a subsequent location on the map. 20.The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 15,wherein the operations further comprise: generating, by the one or moreprocessors, a notification corresponding to the time period; modifying,by the one or more processors, an original depiction of the displayelement to a second depiction of the display element with thenotification; and in response to detecting the exhaustion of the timeperiod, automatically reverting the second depiction of the displayelement to the original depiction of the display element.